Michael Davis Africa

Michael Davis Africa (often reported as “Mike Africa Sr.”) is publicly documented as a MOVE member whose activism and imprisonment are inseparable from MOVE’s broader history: a Philadelphia-based radical communal movement whose ideology and tactics brought it into prolonged conflict with local authorities. As one of the MOVE 9, he became part of a decades-long campaign by supporters who argued the group was punished collectively and who pushed for parole and release for surviving members.

He was arrested in the Aug. 8, 1978 confrontation at MOVE’s Powelton Village home and convicted (with the other MOVE 9) of third-degree murder, serving roughly four decades. Davis Africa was granted parole and released in October 2018; coverage of his release emphasized the family impact of long incarceration, including that his wife Debbie (also one of the MOVE 9) had been paroled earlier in 2018 after decades in prison.

Mike Africa Sr. is a member of the MOVE organization arrested with eight other MOVE members in the August 8, 1978 Philadelphia police raid on the MOVE compound at 33rd and Powelton. He was convicted along with the rest of the MOVE 9 of third-degree murder of Officer James J. Ramp. He was paroled on October 23, 2018 after 40 years in Pennsylvania state prison. His wife Debbie Sims Africa was also among the MOVE 9; their son Mike Africa Jr., born in prison shortly after his mothers arrest, became one of the central organizers of the campaign that won the parole of all surviving MOVE 9 members.

Michael Davis Africa Sr. was a MOVE member and husband of Debbie Sims Africa, arrested at Powelton Village on August 8, 1978 and convicted with the other MOVE 9 of third-degree murder. Sentenced to 30-100 years, he served roughly 40 years before being paroled in October 2018, four months after his wife. Their son, Mike Africa Jr., born to Debbie in jail in 1978, led much of the public campaign to free his parents.